Abstract

The crystal structure and multiferroic properties of single-phase ceramics were investigated. The rhombohedral-type structure of was transformed to a monoclinic-type structure for the composition. It shows the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism at room temperature, represented by a high dielectric constant with ferroelectrichysteresis and clear magnetic hysteresis behavior. The authors propose that the solid solution of A and B site cations according to their ionic radii and valence state stabilized the spontaneous polarization and magnetization at room temperature.

Received 06 September 2006Accepted 21 December 2006Published online 24 January 2007

Acknowledgments:

This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, KRF-2006-C00135-I00713), and partially supported by the Ministry of Education in Korea (project named “Brain Korea 21”). The authors also appreciated the VSM measurement to Sang-Hwan Park in Magnetic Thin Films Laboratory, KAIST, Korea.